As mentioned in my book review, I was introduced to the miniseries before the book, thanks to my parents going to the video store (before they let me choose my own titles, which didn’t take long) and asking the clerk for space stuff.

Having read the book now, I was curious if the miniseries would still contain the themes of colonization and environmental destruction that drove the narrative of Roy Bradbury’s book. And for the most part, it really does.

I was delighted to find that Richard Matheson adapted Bradbury’s novel to the small screen. As soon as I saw his name pop up in the credits, I knew that I’d probably enjoy this take. And I did. Though the modelwork is woeful. It didn’t full me as a kid, and it’s not fooling anybody now.

I also had a lot of issues with how the launches and expeditions were conducted. No real safety guidelines, no environmental suits, and not a lot of common sense.

The first installment of the miniseries, which debuted on 27 January, 1980. I was intrigued by the score by Stanley Myers.

This episode is a fairly faithful retelling of the three expeditions to Mars, with some minor changes, and highlighting Wilder’s character a little more. If you cast Rock Hudson, you’re going to use him.

The first two-man expedition (don’t get me started on their lander, their motorcycle helmets, or the modelwork) meets disaster thanks to dreams and a deadly encounter with a martian (I like some of the design – the contact lenses they wear must have been a nightmare).

The second expedition is foiled by the Martians’ telepathy, letting the crew (led by Nicholas Hammond – Spider-man!) believe they were reuniting with loved ones until it was too late.

The third mission is led by Wilder, who is joined by Spender (Bernie Casey) and Parkhill (Darren McGavin) who wants to open a fast-food joint on the Red Planet. Spender is worried about how humanity will ruin Mars just as we ruined Earth, and goes a little off the rails, killing most of the crew with only Parkhill and Wilder surviving.

He’s not wrong, though; our mere presence begins to kill the Martians off, and despite appearing at the beginning of the story, they aren’t seen again through the course of the episode. There are rumours of them in the hills, but that’s all.

Some of the locations look absolutely beautiful, which sadly, then makes the sets look a little shoddy. And of course, it’s a little too bright and blue-skyed on the planet Mars as seen in the show, but creative license, I guess.

I didn’t recall much of the first time I watched the miniseries, on VHS. I do remember reading about it in Starlog, and then I made a variation of Wilder’s gun from Lego, so it must have stayed with me. I imagine I liked some of it as a kid, I know I watched all three episodes, but I definitely got more out of it this time, despite, or because of, the modelwork, which is so bad.

Let’s see how faithful The Settlers episode is.

But I also wonder how a modern take on this story would play out.